River Walk

Yesterday I took a

with my grandchildren in Stillwater, MN. We hiked across the St. Croix River lift bridge and then up, up, up to the top of the hill on the Wisconsin side of the river.

It was a beautiful morning for a walk and I enjoyed talking with the kids about the upcoming school year, their recent trip to see their other grandparents in southern Iowa, and whatever else they wanted to talk about as we walked. The learning opportunities they have in school astonish me. My soon-to-be sophmore in high school is looking forward to his Intro to Engineering course. And my soon-to-be eighth grader is looking forward to a class called Design and Build.

The wind off the river was cool and brisk but as we left the river, heading up the hill, the sunlit air got warmer and warmer.

I am so lucky to be able to spend time with these two bright lights. It’s so interesting to watch their personalities and interests mature. And it’s such fun to laugh with them and encourage them both on their unique paths.

Since I was carrying my camera we stopped often to look at wildflowers growing along the path. The kids tolerated my interest in wildflowers and showed mild interest in hearing about the various flowers but I can tell that their minds are more on computers and games than on nature.

My granddaughter recently attended an air show with her dad in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She’s mad about airplanes and has been since she was little. Her dad recently helped her to build her own computer which she proudly showed me yesterday.

My grandson loves everything computer related, and Dungeons and Dragons gaming with a group at school.

Teach the children. We don’t matter so much, but the children do. Show them daisies and the pale hepatica. Teach them the taste of sassafras and wintergreen. The lives of the blue sailors, mallow, sunbursts, the moccasin flowers. And the frisky ones—inkberry, lamb’s-quarters, blueberries. And the aromatic ones—rosemary, oregano. Give them peppermint to put in their pockets as they go to school. Give them the fields and the woods and the possibility of the world salvaged from the lords of profit. Stand them in the stream, head them upstream, rejoice as they learn to love this green space they live in, its sticks and leaves and then the silent, beautiful blossoms.

Attention is the beginning of devotion.

— Mary Oliver

I love seeing where their interests take them. Who knows what they might do and be when they mature? Perhaps our nature walks will help teach them to love and feel a part of nature.

May you walk in beauty.